A reader on the condition of our interstates:
I found today’s column very interesting. Let me give you my view of the elephant:
Subject: Interstate Rubbish Cleanup
SOLUTIONS: Get some of those folks out of local prisons and jails to do the work. Why pay a subcontractor? This labor is free and you only have to pay the guards & transportation. Auburn does it frequently. Also, use those people sentenced to community service.
PREVENTION. I suspect a majority of that trash is blowing out of trash trucks that travel by each day, plus out of the back of pickup trucks. Dedicate a police patrol to primarily watch for trash polluters and get them to not only pick up what they have contributed but many times that amount - say a 1/4 mile of the highway if appropriate. Fines would not be necessary if they "volunteered" to do the pickup. I am sure there would not be many repeat offenders.
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